@Sage: The funny thing is that I actually don't care so much anymore who will 'win'. When I started the blog, ranking the winners and picking my personal winner was the most exciting thing for me but now I mostly enjoy to watch all these unknown performacnes and write down my thoughts on them. Ranking and grading is not even necessary for me anymore but of course I will go on doing it since this is all the fun! :-)

I think Cotillard just has one of the most interesting faces and presences in cinema right now, and I especially love the work she has been doing in DV. Her performance is La vie en rose was revelatory, and she'd get my vote from this year.

I don't know why people have problem with Blanchett's performance - we should to see a performance when that performance is nominated not the Movie. Elizabeth 2 was a bad movie, but Blanchett was amazing.